Electronic Permit applications can be submitted using the eBusiness Center: Air Services in a variety of ways depending on the type of facility where the operations are located. Some facilities are required to submit applications electronically. For more information please see the Air Services web page. For those who can submit hard copy applications, they must be sent to the appropriate District Office or Local Air Agency (DO/LAA).

Call the Ohio EPA periodically to monitor the progress and to offer to help.

Electronic Copies of Issued Permits

DAPC provides electronic copies of permits issued to facilities that we have an electronic copy of. Our electronic documents date back to late 1998. All electronic permit records are available in PDF. If an electronic copy is available a link will be present in a list of all records we have going back to 1974 of issued permits. Additional search options and tracking status will be added to this website in mid- to late-2009.

Compliance Reporting in Permits

For many years, Ohio EPA has required quarterly and semi-annual compliance reports in PTIs, Title V permits, and historical State PTOs (i.e., former OAC Chapter 3745-35 permits-to-operate). Beginning June 30, 2008 Ohio EPA began only requiring those reports in PTIs issued to Title V facilities and for certain restrictions issued in a federally enforceable PTIO (FEPTIO).

Also beginning June 30, 2008, an annual Permit Evaluation Report (PER) requirement was instituted for any emissions unit subject to permit requirements issued in a final PTIO. The effect of this 2008 change was that at a facility that is not subject to Title V, the reporting requirements for “existing permitted” emissions units continue in effect and are required to be submitted until a PTIO is issued final for that emissions unit. Thus, in most cases, an existing quarterly reporting requirement will eventually be replaced with the PER for all operations at the facility as the existing PTIs/State issued PTOs (i.e., former OAC Chapter 3745-35 permits-to-operate) are superseded by the issued PTIO for each emissions unit.

Due Dates

Quarterly Reports – January 31, April 30, July 31, October 31

Semi-Annual Reports – January 31, July 31

PER - Date indicated in the issued PTIO.

Title V Compliance Certification – April 30

Compliance Report Submission

The eBusiness Center - Air Services is required as the mechanism to submit the Title V Compliance Certification and other required reports for Title V facilities. Similarly, the PER, and as applicable other reports also must be submitted via eBusiness Center - Air Services for facilities subject to an FEPTIO. The use of Air Services to submit the PER or quarterly and semi-annual reports is optional for facilities that are not subject to an FEPTIO. Facilities subject to Title V or an FEPTIO are strongly encouraged to use Air Services to submit all types of reports.

A reminder letter is sent for the annual Title V Compliance Certification. A hard copy PER form or reminder letter is also mailed to all affected facilities at the end of the applicable reporting period. However, no letters reminding companies to submit the quarterly or semi-annual reports are sent by Ohio EPA due to the frequency of reporting. If you need to acquire a copy of the PER form/letter you should contact the applicable District Office/Local Air Agency for the location of the facility.

Note: A PER does not need to be signed prior to submission (although a PIN entered by a company employee is required to submit any item in Air Services).

Annual Emissions Reporting Program

The 1990 federal Clean Air Act Amendments established new permitting and reporting requirements for air polluting facilities. Under Title V of the amendments, facilities that have the potential to emit certain amounts of air pollution are required to apply for and obtain a state-federal operating permit and pay emission fees. In Ohio, facilities are categorized into three ‘types’ for purposes of deciding which reports are required to be filed on April 15 each year. A site is either ‘Title V’ or ‘non-Title V’. Your facility ‘type’ in turn determines the level of detail, the reporting mechanism (Air Services versus hard copy report form) for reporting facility-wide emissions, pollutants included, and the amount of fees that are charged. It also determines whether or not an Emissions Inventory (EIS) and/or an Emissions Statement (ES) is required to be filed simultaneously.

Permit Fees

Most of the air pollution permit fees are emissions-based fees (i.e., a $/ton assessed fee based on estimated actual emissions). However, the Permit-To-Install fee is assessed on a permit basis using a schedule identified in Section 3745.11 of the Ohio Revised Code. This schedule identifies various fees for specific categories of permitted activities. The total Permit-To-Install fee is the sum of the various activity-specific fees assessed for the operations permitted in each issued Permit-To-Install.

Emissions Fee Reporting

Reporting requirements are outlined in Ohio Revised Code (ORC)3745.11 and Ohio Administrative Code (OAC)3745-78-02. If you are an owner or operator of a facility that is required to apply for and obtain an air pollution control operating permit, you are required to submit an annual emissions report for estimated actual facility wide emissions of particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxides (NOx), organic compounds (OC), and lead (Pb) no later than April 15th for the previous year. Once the emissions report is submitted to Ohio EPA, DAPC, a designated district office or local air agency staff person reviews the emissions data for accuracy. An invoice is generated based on the appropriate fee schedule designated in Ohio Law.

Fees are assessed to cover a portion or all of the costs associated with air permitting activities, air pollution monitoring, inspections, and providing technical assistance. To read detailed information on each specific fee category click on the hyperlinks below.

Tracking Permits

The Permit Issuance and Emissions Reporting Unit is responsible for tracking, typing, proofing, and issuing Permits to Install (PTIs), Permits-to-Install and Operate (PTIOs) and Title V permits for air pollution sources.

To find out the status of your permit, it is recommended that you first contact the DO/LAA that is responsible for your facility it you do not have the access to Air Services. the DO/LAA has already sent their permit recommendation to the EPA Central Office, you may contact us at (614) 644-2300 to determine the status and likely issue date of your permit. If you would like to see the steps involved in issuing a permit, click here.

Permitting Programs for Non-Title V Facilities

Generally referred to as “Non-Title V” or “Synthetic Minor Title V” sources depending on whether or not voluntary restrictions on the quantity of air contaminants are included in issued permits that prevent the source from becoming subject to the Title V operating permit program.

Permit duration is 10 years for Non-Title V facilities and 5 years for Synthetic Minor Title V facilities

Types of Permit Documents

Permit-to-install and operate — This permit document is issued to Non-Title V and Synthetic Minor Title V facilities. Permit-to-install and operate (PTIO) is a relatively recent permit document type. Effective June 30, 2008, Ohio EPA began issuing a single PTIO for an air contaminant source rather than a PTI, followed by a separate permit-to-operate (PTO) for Non-title V and Synthetic Minor Title V facilities. The PTIO was designed to streamline the permitting process for non-major facilities with low emissions of air contaminants. PTIOs are issued as final actions of the Director that are appealable to the Environmental Review Appeals Commission. If the permit is establishing federally enforceable terms and conditions or has high public interest it will first be issued as a draft permit to allow a 30-day comment period by the public, U.S. EPA, or other interested parties.

Federally Enforceable Permit-to-install and operate (FEPTIO) — This a specific type of PTIO issued with federally enforceable limitations that limit the facility-wide potential to emit. The limitations restrict emissions below what is otherwise required by regulation so the permittee can avoid various regulations. The most common restrictions apply to one or more permitted operations at the facility in order to reduce the overall facility-wide potential to emit. In some cases the restriction is requested to avoid an operationally specific requirement (e.g. a MACT standard). FEPTIOs are issued at the same draft and final stages as described for the PTIO above.

Permit Mechanisms/options — Various mechanisms have been developed over the years to speed up the permitting process. The basic process is described by the “Steps to obtain Ohio EPA air pollution permits”. However, additional permitting options may be available depending on the type of operation being installed. These options fall into two broad categories; exemptions and general permits.

Exemptions — Ohio EPA has developed several types of permitting exemptions. These exemptions include:

De minimis: Outright exemption established in the de minimis rule for very small potential air contaminant sources

Permit exempt: Exempt an operation from being required to first be issued a permit, but are subject to certain criteria in the exemption rule and/or air pollution control limitations or restrictions established in certain air pollution rules

General Permits: General permits speed up the permitting process for certain well-defined operations that are not eligible for a permit exemption. General permits are designed to identify the emission limits, operational restrictions, monitoring, record keeping, reporting, and testing requirements for the majority of sources covered by the general permit. The benefit of seeking a general permit is that the permit is issued very quickly once a complete application is received; the trade-off is that there is no source-specific tailoring of the permit terms - when it comes to general permits, “what you see is what you get”.

Other options: In addition to the two stream lining options developed by the Agency, a company can also choose to use one of these options as the starting point for a traditional permit. For example, if the terms of a general permit don’t quite fit a specific situation, an applicant can suggest slight modifications to the general permit terms as the basis for quick processing of a traditionally processed permit. Feel free to discuss this option with your Ohio EPA District Office or local air agency contact.